One Moment At A Time
by AlinaLotus
Summary: Tifa's peeved, Cloud's a pervert, and Yuffie can't get a certain red-cloaked enigma off her mind.


**AU, of course. My first attempt at any sort of Yuffie/Vincent. Other pairings are Cloud/Tifa and mentions of Zack/Aeris. Do enjoy.**

It was a stupid argument anyway, the stupidest Yuffie had ever heard in her life--no, wait, the stupidest argument the PLANET had ever heard in _its _entire life. But, she couldn't blame Cloud for giving in. _She _didn't think she would be able to resist Tifa's pleading brown eyes and heaving chest pushed out at her, either. Besides a considerable rack and having the whole puppy dog look down pat (and you know, aside from the fact that Tifa could turn Cloud into putty in the palm of her able hand) Tifa could be very annoying when the situation called for it.

Yuffie sighed, all but slamming her head back into the seat cushion--or _not _cushion. Seriously, were all the comfortable, safe, spacious buggies in Gaia sold out? Why were they stuck with--well, maybe she couldn't complain too much. The small back seat of this particular death machine did put her in close quarters with a certain gunslinger who did, each time their arms or legs came briefly into contact (accidentally, of course, though Yuffie thought, once or twice, Vincent had a somewhat knowing smirk on his lips) send electric chills up her spine, turning her brain nearly into mush and reducing her thoughts to things that only somebody like Cloud--somebody who stole surreptitious glances at Tifa's exposed midriff or ran his hand along her bare thigh when he thought nobody was looking--should be thinking, could get away with thinking. Somehow, Vincent Valentine and his considerable muscles, his soft black hair and his probing red eyes left her, the greatest ninja in the history of Wutai, in the history of anywhere, a panting, fantasizing, hormonal mess.

He didn't seem to affect anybody else like this, although to be fair, the noises coming from Cloud and Tifa's tent late at night were proof that it wasn't just her that was pulsing with desire. And Aeris, humming quietly to herself, admitted once or twice to Yuffie that she was thinking about her own love, a boy from her past that had stolen--and kept--her heart. So love was in the air, or at least physical attraction, but Yuffie knew (grudgingly) that it went beyond that. If it had just been that he was hot and she was horny, it would've been a much easier situation to handle, but of course nothing could be simple in her life, Yuffie mused as the buggy pulled to a stop. She didn't even know where they were, the sign declaring the name of the town was in an odd language, something she'd never seen before.

Barret got out of the buggy first, muttering loudly, Tifa behind him, rolling her eyes. "It's pet peeve of mine, okay? You might try doing it once in a while." She said, skipping to keep up with him. Next, and as always, gracefully, Aeris stepped out of the buggy, clutching a basket of flowers. She planned on planting one everywhere they stopped, and Yuffie saw her glance around, presumably for the perfect place to start digging.

Cloud said something too, but he slammed the driver door before Yuffie could catch his contribution to the conversation. Cait Sith bounded out of the passenger door, Nanakie close behind him, and then it was just them--just Yuffie and Vincent Valentine left, a heat pooling in Yuffie's stomach that made her arms and legs like rubber, that made her tongue swell in her mouth.

"You seem...restless." Vincent said, his deep voice like music to Yuffie's ears, close and warm.

She cleared her throat, her stomach fluttering. "Um...yeah. I mean, you know--yeah."

Vincent turned, his eyes meeting hers. She was pretty sure her heart had stopped, and she swallowed with a loud _gulp_. He chuckled, something she'd never heard him do, and nodded. "Yes, yes I do know. Shall we?" And he gestured for her to exit through the passenger door. Something about passing so close to him, even though she'd done so hundreds of times, made her above average reflexes dull, and she found herself, ass first, on the dirt road, staring up at the clear blue sky, before she even realized that she'd tumbled over his foot.

Her face flushed as she saw, from her spot on the ground, the corner of Vincent's cloak whip out of the buggy, and in an instant Yuffie was pulled from the ground, wrapped securely in Vincent's leather-and-metal clad arms.

"Are you alright?" Vincent asked, concern flitting across his painfully perfect features, as he quickly scanned Yuffie up and down.

If she'd been able to form a coherent sentence she could've told him, in her usual eloquent way, that she was, in fact, perfectly okay, that she didn't need him picking her up like she meant something to him, like she wasn't capable of picking her own sorry butt off the ground.

"Now you're worrying me," Vincent said, gently lifting her legs as well, and Yuffie could only imagine how ridiculous this must look, the mysterious, strong ex-Turk, whisking the dumbfounded Wutai princess to safety. "I don't recall the last time you were speechless."

Yuffie shook her head, trying to regain her senses. "I'm--" She started, but then Vincent pulled her closer to him, against his chest, and all hope of brain control, or function in general, was lost. She simply stared up at him, trying not to appreciate just how damn good he smelled, trying to ignore the need to reach up and trace the smooth structure of his jaw.

"The lodge is just up ahead, Cloud did mention us staying the night, I'm sure it will be fine for us to get you into bed."

If she wasn't on the verge of an aneurysm before, she was nearly in convulsions now, hearing Vincent talk about her, and bed, and night, and visions floated before her, of red cloaks and leather pants strewn across the floor, of skin touching skin and fingers running through, pulling, black hair and explosions of pleasure and--

"Well, there you go." They'd arrived at the lodge, and been shown to a room with two beds. "Aeris will be in soon, I'm sure." Vincent set her down in the doorway, then turned to leave.

Though it was the last thing she wanted, Yuffie couldn't do anything but gape mindlessly after Vincent's retreating form. Thinking vaguely that cloaks were _much_ too long these days, she crossed to one of the beds, laid her head at the foot of the bed and propped her feet against the headboard.

_Fabulous,_ she thought, _when he's with me I can't do more than drool like a moron and when he's gone all I can do is think about him!_

Yep, she knew it would happen someday, but she always hoped it would be later rather than sooner, because she had other things to worry about, an ever-aging father, Wutai itself, then now, stopping Sephiroth and saving the world, the typical worries of a super ninja.

There was the undeniable fact, Yuffie consented, that she was in love with Vincent Valentine.

---

It was in the same odd position that Aeris found Yuffie twenty minutes later.

"Um...are you okay?" She asked, kneeling on the floor at Yuffie's head.

Yuffie heaved a sigh and rolled onto her side, facing Aeris. "No. It's awful, Aeris."

"Do I need to get a doctor?" Aeris sprang up, worried about her friend.

Yuffie rolled her eyes, flapping her hand dismissively. "It's not like that, chill. It's much worse than anything being physically wrong with me."

Aeris raised her eyebrows skeptically and set her basket of flowers on the nightstand in between Yuffie's bed and her own, then slipped her rather worn boots off and settled in comfortably on the vacant bed. "Go on..."

"Well, it sucks, I mean I can't stop thinking about him and everything he does makes me smile and it's not like I can control it, believe me I've tried and nothing I do seems to be working, I can't like forget about him or anything, I mean the man is right next to me, you know?"

"Okay, back up a bit," Aeris said, her head spinning as she tried to follow Yuffie's explanation, "who can't you stop thinking about?"

"Vincent, duh."

"Okay so you like Vincent, and that's bad?"

Yuffie practically threw herself from the bed and began pacing. "It's the worst thing that could happen."

"I guess I don't follow you, what's wrong with liking somebody?"

"Keep up Aeris! If it was only that I liked him, that I thought he was a hunk or whatever, I could deal! But this, this is beyond that. I'm in love with him!"

"But being in love is wonderful!"

"Yeah, when the world is safe and you know, the guy loves you back!"

"How do you know he doesn't love you too?" Aeris asked, resting her chin in her hand.

Yuffie stopped dead, frozen for a moment. "No," she said shakily, "it's not possible. He's all hung up on that Lucy chick."

Aeris chuckled. "_Lucrecia._ And Vincent knows better than anybody that it's time for him to move on. He isn't blind, or stupid or anything like that. I'm sure he's noticed you in the same way you've noticed him."

Yuffie shook her head. "Definitely not. I mean, he's so above me, you know? Like, on a completely different level."

Aeris shrugged. "That doesn't mean anything Yuffie. The love of my life was a SOLDIER, he worked for ShinRa. And I was nothing but a poor flower girl from the slums. Besides, you're forgetting the kind of person Vincent is. Status doesn't mean anything to him."

Yuffie sighed again and sat back down on her bed. "So what should I do?"

Aeris moved to sit beside her friend. "Well," she said, wrapping her arm around Yuffie's shoulder, "you do what we all do; take it one day at a time."

---

Dinner that evening, on the ground floor of the lodge, was a raucous affair, as it usually was. This time, though, Yuffie was not participating in the discussions and arguments about where they should go next, how they should get there, what they should expect to find when the did arrive. She sat, stirring the stew in her bowl, every now and then glancing over at Vincent, who was eating his meal with slow, precise poise at the opposite end of the table.

Yuffie inhaled, her jaw set. She shouldn't be afraid, she was a great warrior! She'd faced much worse things than this, hadn't she? And she certainly was not a wuss, or a coward.

Her mind made up (even if her legs were shaking), she picked up her bowl and moved down the table, unnoticed except for Aeris, who gave her a small, encouraging smile. She reached the empty seat next to Vincent, who looked up as she approached.

"Hiya, Vince," She said, pulling the chair out for herself and sitting down. "What's up?"

Vincent gave her a rare smile, and Yuffie knew that Aeris was right. All she could do was take it one day at a time.


End file.
